#52 Ancestor Challenge 2019, Week 36, Cynthia School Days

#52 Ancestor Challenge 2019, Week 36, Cynthia - School Days

 The Cynthia Chronicles

(Life as a Perpetual Student?)

 The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde

I am sitting in a cabin in Vermont writing essays about my ancestors whose flesh and bones gave me life.  In the #52 Ancestor Challenge 2019, this week's prompt is School Days. I am encouraged to include a chapter about my bones: The Cynthia Chronicles (Life as a Perpetual Student?).  

Early life lessons are best summed up as wishes. If I could start life over again, there are many things I would change.  Perhaps that is what makes people try too hard, to over-achieve, to try to get things right for the next time 'round.  I want to go back and see or feel things for the second time! I would handle my mother's illness differently.  

Living with epilepsy was difficult for my mother and a challenging lesson for me.  We did not discuss her illness; it was a family secret not revealed even to my best friends.  Mother's tragedy affected dad, too.  He was very protective of her.  He often warned us, "Don't upset your mother, she could have a spell!" This notion transferred to thoughts of God. I could not upset God, either.  Imagine!  Just imagine what would happen if God had a spell!  Being a sensitive young girl, I learned to keep the secret, and to fear conflict.  Fear outweighed courage under duress.  How did I manage? What did I learn? 

I survived.  I learned that I could excel as a student.  Somewhere in my DNA is a burning passion for education.  In the mix of inheriting a zeal for school, I dearly love babies.  Is that why I had so many?  Bouncing babies while balancing an undergraduate degree, two masters degrees, two doctorates, and numerous certifications was a challenge.  My DNA is hard-wired to take a course and cuddle babies.  Thank God for functional DNA and school.

School is a life-long process.  If I have learned anything, it is this: as I matured, I tried to find who I wanted to be. In suffering, I found out who I am; transformation happens. I ponder my past, and the people I lost, which reminds me that all too soon, I will be someone's ancestor, someone's lost bones. I know the grief of losing parents as a young adult; I long for ten minutes with my mother, to kiss her soft cheeks, to be a comfort to her; I want to tell my dad he was the best. I know the angst of watching a son die and standing this side of the sod with a mother's broken heart for a son-in-law. While I cannot bring them back, I can share their warm memories for future generations.  

Dad, Mom and Me

Leaping High - Second From Left

 Life Events Interspersed with School Days

Stan Forde and I married young; he was the son of Selmer Forde and Rose Bergo in Worth County, Iowa.  At the time of our marriage, he was a foreman for Hobe Engineering.  Promotions followed quickly because he was extremely bright, competent and hard-working.  Working on highway construction meant we often moved.   I  always found 'home' in the Lutheran Church as a Sunday School teacher and community as a Senior Girl Scout Leader.

1964 - We purchased a 105-acre farm two miles south of Elk Horn, Iowa.  By this year, the marriage produced four children: Roxanne, Julie, Scott, and Jon.  Stan Forde was part-owner and vice-president of Hobe Engineering.   I  taught high school Sunday School, and I served in leadership roles of the American Lutheran Church Women.  My passion for art increased; I earned a scholarship in art and began to study, also earning certification in an interior design correspondence course.   I had goals!

Scott, Cynthia, Jon, Julie,  Roxanne, and Stan

1966 – Rose, and Sam Forde moved to a mobile home on our farm.  They created a perfect nest to love grandchildren.  Sam handled the farm chores; Rose helped with gardening, raising chickens and milking a cow.  I loved my in-laws and the rich heritage they brought to our lives.  They helped with the children while I drove to classes and studied!

Rose and Selmer Forde, 3 May 1930

1969 – Our son, Paul, was born in January.  Stan Forde organized Elk Horn Construction Company.  I created the Elk Horn-Kimballton Arts and Recreation Council to celebrate art activities in the community;  I formed the Hans Christian Anderson Community Theater, and summers I was a Red Cross Water Safety instructor at the local swimming pool.

Cynthia 1969

1976-  Enrollment followed at Dana College, Blair, Nebraska, majoring in Speech Communications and Fine Arts while earning an Associate of Fine Arts Degree from  Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

1977 – My father, Ervin Gelnor Vold (Ole/Paul) passed away after ten months of suffering from lung cancer.  I began to understand Call to ministry.

1978 – Stan Forde sold Elk Horn Construction Company, and focused on organizing Forde Construction in Texas.  I was in school in Iowa.

1980 – I was crowned Mrs. Iowa America while taking classes at three different colleges; Julie married James Balfour Diaz.  Julie and Jim moved to Texas in December of 1980.  They became the parents of two children.

Mrs. Iowa America 1980

1981 – Jon, Paul, and I moved to Texas.  I  enrolled in the Fine Arts program at the University of Houston.  I quickly learned that I would not be a famous painter, nor would I make a livelihood as an artist.  I transferred an overfilled backpack of semester hour credits to the University of New York where I was awarded a Bachelor's Degree. 

1984 – In February, my mother Rose Miller Vold died in California as the result of an epileptic seizure.  We purchased a home on Sandalfoot in Hearthstone, Texas.  Roxanne married Ali.  They later became the parents of three children.

1985 – I organized the first Lutheran Cursillo  (Via De Cristo) in Texas while being enrolled in the Public Relations MA degree program at the University of Houston.  I left that school to become a seminary junkie.  I studied at Perkins Seminary in Dallas, Texas earning certification as a spiritual director.  And I enrolled in classes for ordination in the Lutheran Church.  Jon married Jill; they had two daughters; Scott Forde married Karen, and they had two children.

1992 - And the family continually grew: Paul married Cheryl; they have two daughters.

1998 - Scott died from Leukemia, and our family suffered.

Forde Family Ranch 2002

Degrees, Certifications, and Transformation:

1981, BS University of the State of NY

1982 Graduate Studies in Public Relations Management: fund-raising, University of Houston

1985 Certificate in Spiritual Direction, Perkins Seminary, Dallas, TX

1986-95, Texas Lutheran Cursillo (now Via de Cristo), Spiritual director, rector, etc.

1990, M. Div. Wartburg Seminary and Lutheran Seminary Theology in Chicago:  Dubuque, Iowa

1991 Ordination ELCA - Ministry as Parish Pastor, Workshop & Retreat Leader, Teacher

1992 MA Theology - Spirituality, Houston Graduate School of Theology, Houston TX

1992 ELCA representative to Churchwide Assembly

1993 Formation of Southeast Texas Association of  Spiritual Directors with Sr. Mary Denison (chair of the by-laws committee)

1994-96, Two Year Certificate of Studies, Lebh Shomea School of Prayer, Sarita, TX

1995 DMin. Spiritual Direction, Graduate School of Theology, Donaldson, Indiana

1995 Hosea House, established as a Sabbath House for clergy on my ranch, Hempstead, TX

1996 ELCA Gulf Coast Synod Women’s Advocate, created Womens’ group to mentor disadvantaged women towards education

1996 1997 Grief and Bereavement Training established a community grief support group

1998 Ph.D. (abd) Ecumenism with studies at Christ Church College, Oxford, England GTF

2004 Samaritan Counseling Center, Bay City, TX Pastoral Crisis Certification, AAPC
2007: I retired to become 18 again.  We divorced. 
2014: Outstanding Alumnus Award

 Outstanding Alumnus April 2014

And that pretty wells sums up the thoughts and emotions the topic "School Days" brought to my mind.
I am one of the lucky ones whose School Days have continued life long.  This knowledge tells me to celebrate the past, rejoice in what is yet to come, knowing now is the best time to be!

A Brief Compendium on Transformation That Matters

The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde
2014 - Lutheran Seminary of the Southwest

Transformational ministry seeks answers to the question: “How do pastors facilitate spiritual growth?”  How do pastors encourage a fundamental change of direction leading to the spiritual growth the apostle Paul speaks of in I Corinthians 15:45-49? “After” a diverse and rewarding career in the ministry, The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde reflects that a gratifying life consists of a series of transformations—some that we seek and others which are thrust upon us.

Pastor Forde, the 2014 Distinguished Alumna of the Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest, is deeply grateful to Wartburg Seminary and Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago for jointly sponsoring the Lutheran Seminary Program in Austin, Texas and thereby making seminary education a transforming reality in the Southwest.  

Rev. Forde’s seminal experience at LSPS, prior to an internship at Grace Lutheran Church in Houston, was the course in Church Administration taught by Dr. August Wenzel, former president of the Southern District of the predecessor American Lutheran Church.  “Augie Wenzel's encouragement and witticisms will stay with me forever, along with many Wenzel words of wisdom,” she avers.  Church Administration class was a foundational preparation for the innovative exploration of transformational ministry during her internship under the supervision, encouragement, and guidance of the Rev. Cliff Ackerman. 

Forde’s fascination with transformation began during her undergraduate fine arts work under the tutelage of The Rev. Dr. William Thompson at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska.  The professor pushed creativity beyond imagination by using content drawn from the Psalms, the Visions of Black Elk, or garden weeds propagating new life. Through the process of reflection and prayer, after moving to Texas in 1981 and abandoning thoughts of a career in art, The Rev. Forde experienced the call to explore spiritual transformation through pastoral ministry.

Dr. Hilmer C. Krause at the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin was quite amused when she inquired about enrollment, replying, “Are you bilingual?” Rev. Forde answered, "Kan du snukke Norske?"  He said that was funny, but speaking Norwegian was of little use in Texas; he suggested that she contact Jim Fish, Director of Admissions at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, a fruitful suggestion; Jim provided help choosing coursework that would be accepted for transfer when it was time to do a year’s residency in Iowa.  

Following Jim Fish’s suggestions and one from her pastor, the Rev. Eugene Fogt, she enrolled in a 12-month certification program in spiritual formation at Perkins Seminary in Dallas. 

Rev. Forde’s education continued with additional coursework at St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Austin Presbyterian Seminary, the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest, and extensive independent study with Dr. Donald Little, who supervised two years of Greek and a tour of the Holy Land.   She earned her Master of Theology degree in the History of Christian Spirituality from the Houston Graduate School of Theology before embarking upon life-changing studies in prayer from the Oblatesat LebhShomea School of Prayer in Sarita, Texas, a two-year certification program, working under the guidance of the Rev. Dr. Kelly Nemeck, O.M.I. 

During those years of study, while serving on a committee of the Lutheran Association of Southwestern Camping for the purpose of spiritual renewal, Pastor Forde organized the first Texas Lutheran Cursillo/Via de Cristo 28 years ago, in January of 1986.  Via de Cristo is a proven tool for spiritual formation and leadership development. She and hundreds of Texans will be forever grateful to some of Iowa’s finest theologians, especially the Rev. Allen Hermeier, organizer of the first Lutheran Cursillo, who raised funds to bring two teams of 30 Iowans, including Pastor Jeff Alvestad’s parents, to work with Texas Episcopalians, Cursillo, and Texas Methodists from the Walk to Emmaus. Fellow parishioners at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Houston asked incredulously, "You're having a what at LutherHill in January?"  Via de Cristo changed Luther Hill by bringing to the site many adults, who donated time and money to create the Luther Hill we value highly today.

In the fall of 1988, the newly created the Lutheran Seminary Program of the Southwest opened its doors to award a full Master of Divinity degree, and Rev. Forde enrolled, her “backpack” overflowing with credit hours.  Lutheran School of Theology and Wartburg in Dubuque, Iowa awarded her a Master of Divinity degree in December of 1990, which was presented at LSPS in the spring of 1991.  Forde received and turned back a Letter of Call from Deanville, Texas before accepting a Letter of Call from King of Glory Lutheran Church in Southeast Houston which preceded her ordination at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in August of 1991. She maintains great gratitude to that congregation and to Pastor Fogt for his ongoing spiritual guidance. 

King of Glory was a joyful place to begin parish ministry, despite its heavy burden of debt to the ELCA Mission Investment Fund. The congregation had been unable to make mortgage payments and faced imminent foreclosure.  Borrowing Augie Wenzel's amusing story of how he convinced Holy Cross Lutheran Church (Houston) members to pay for their new fellowship hall, the ELCA mortgage committee heard the same three choices from Pastor Forde: 1. The building could be sold. 2. The building could be torn down and the bricks sold.  3. The Mission Investment Fund could grant the congregation a year of grace.  They bit the bullet and granted the year of grace! King of Glory congregation had a reprieve, a year to grow and make mortgage payments.  

King of Glory boasted only two strong leaders, and after ten leadership and outreach training events during that year of grace, they still boasted only two leaders.  Programs are not transformative, although the congregation did grow.  The congregation was able to make partial payments and to sponsor an intern, Sylvia Gatzke, who became the next pastor four years later.   After Pastor Forde left, KOG was able to survive for only a few years until, sadly, Pastor Gatzke passed away, the neighborhood changed, and a new, large Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregation formed down the street.  Following these setbacks, the congregation voted to merge with New Life Lutheran Church in Pearland, Texas. 

Pastor Forde’s deeper call to spiritual direction shaped the creation of Hosea’s House, a Sabbath House for Clergy, on her Hempstead ranch. During the process of establishing Hosea House, Trinity Lutheran Church in Hempstead extended a Letter of Call that she accepted.  For the mostly silver-haired neighborhood congregation with no debt, the face of ministry changed to grief support groups for the congregation and the community.  Trinity Lutheran elders taught Pastor Forde the positive side of suffering, the transformation that God can make in the years of decline.  Rev. Forde experienced role reversal after a crippling horseback riding accident, as the congregation ministered to her during her recovery from the accident followed soon after by the death of her oldest son from leukemia.  A devastated and heart-broken Cynthia became an unwilling member of “Parents who Follow Caskets” and suffered the ensuing despair so often destructive to family life. Pastor Forde resigned from the congregation to work through her personal grief.  A year later, she returned, serving as pulpit supply and interim ministry for various congregations: St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Shelby and St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waller.   

Throughout ministry Pastor Forde pursued additional studies, earning a Doctor of Ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation in Spiritual Direction and a Ph.D. degree (abd) in Ecumenism that included studies at Christ Church College in Oxford, England.  She participated in the formation of the SE Texas Association of Spiritual Directors, serving as chair of the by-laws committee, and coordinated an effort for the Gulf Coast Synod to participate with the Episcopal Diocese of Texas’ Formation in Direction (F.I.N.D.).  In addition to being a spiritual director, she teaches, writes and leads workshops on the topic of spiritual direction. 

Pastor Forde became a leader for workshops and retreats, focusing on spiritual life and prayer, including such topics as the Meyer-Briggs Typology, “The Pastor as Spiritual Director” at the Jung Center in Houston, “Living with Questions” through the Jung Center in San Francisco, and “The History of Christian Art,” “The History of Christian Spirituality,” and “Spiritual Direction” at the Melanchthon Institute in Houston. 

Her involvement at a Synodical level included serving on numerous committees, being a representative to the church-wide assembly in 1992, participating in the formation of the Mission Endowment Fund, and serving as a resource to First Call pastors for three years.   

Bishop Paul Blom appointed Pastor Forde as Women’s Advocate representative from the Gulf Coast Synod to the ELCA.  She organized the Gulf Coast Synod Women's Advocacy Program with the mission to mentor disadvantaged women towards education. Besides mentoring women, the organization raised funds to assist with college education for many women. 

Now fully retired, having completed maturity and re-entering adolescence, she experiences the transformation of another sort: reveling in God’s creation through hiking in the mountains and witnessing daily a continuing kaleidoscope of change from atop a motorcycle.   Needless to say, her spiritual development continues apace, thank God.

How DOES spiritual transformation happen?” In the classic children’s story, “The Velveteen Rabbit,” the Skin Horse explained to the Rabbit how to become real—when a child loves you for a long, long time.  As a pastor and spiritual director, she sees her role as that of a Skin Horse.  Someone (God) happens to us.    

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Rev. Forde is the author of The Spirit in the South and James Lea 1790, Caswell County, North Carolina.   She is a member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, founder and chair of the Sappington Scholarship for Colonial History students, active in Daughters of the American Revolution, the American Association for Professional Genealogists, serves as a genealogist for the Swedish Colonial Society, and is group administrator for several DNA projects. 

She is married to Ronald S. Beatty, an MIT graduate, author, editor, historian, and an 11^thcousin.  The two optimists share passions for genealogy, travel, and life of spirituality. 

 Outstanding Alumnus April 2014